meanwhile the country is rightfully worried that washington is spending too much money. democrats get it and we will do something about it. our country faces hard choices. it can no longer and no longer should be put off. so we're working to pass a strong pay as you go legislation, which is as we speak being considered in the senate this week because the pledge to pay for what we buy is a proven deficit reduce you are. president obama has announced a freeze of discretionary spending which will require us to choose our top priorities for funding. that will not be nearly enough. the single greatest contributor to our deficit is the growing cost of our entitlement programs which is why i'm eager to work with a bipartisan commission. that commission is also under discussion in the united states senate as we speak. even if it is ultimately created by executive order as opposed to statutory, the leadership in congress has pledged to up its recommendations for an up or down vote. if republicans are as concerned about the deficit as they say they are, i hope they will contribute